


The First Day as the New Grand Mistress

by cjg



Series: Moments Unseen [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Support, Established Relationship, Exhaustion, F/M, Fluff, Healing, Partial Nudity, Spoilers for Episode 94
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-24 11:22:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10740696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjg/pseuds/cjg
Summary: The one where Vex needs some healing and care before she’ll be able to sleep. Once she’s awake she’s feeling better physically but her emotions need some calming.OrThe one where Whitestone's new Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt, recovers from a battle hard fought, receives aid from allies, accepts a grey robe as her own when it’s offered, has a nightmare, eats fruit from gods, hugs a cub, is comforted by a man, and feels loved.Now Finished





	1. Chapter 1

Before Sleep

 

She is more mentally awake than she lets on when Vax leaves. Her mind flowing a mile a minute. A noise from behind the shut door alerts her to someone coming in but just from his footsteps she can tell that it’s Percy turning the knob. He crosses the room and puts something down on the foot of the bed before sitting next to her, on top of the covers, with his back against the headboard.

For a couple of minutes he just watches her, possibly trying to determine if she's really asleep, which she is not, or perhaps how much of the blood is actually hers, the answer is a lot. She's healed herself enough that she's no longer actively bleeding, but she must be a sight. His study should be unnerving, it should be annoying, but it isn’t, it's strangely relaxing actually.

It's easy to picture him. His overly fond smile that he doesn't bother to hide anymore down turned, that look accompanied by the worry in his eyes and the extra bushiness of his eyebrows. The twitchiness of his fingers, desperate to reach out just to make sure she is really still here.

She had not missed the dark circles under his eyes and his unshaven face when she had greeted everyone downstairs, a reflection of his night, his worry, on his body.

The state of her desk had not escaped her notice when Vax walked her into the room too. The light from the window shining on the desk, covered completely with papers, evidence of Percy's restlessness the night before? Some seemed to be official documents, with his signature at the bottom, others incomplete sketches. The one on top had been of her and Trinket, walking up the path to the castle, the city barely visible behind them. Her face blank, featureless, he’d not drawn it in on purpose.

He keeps to himself until she hisses in pain while shifting in bed. Then there's a hand tenderly placed on her back.

"Would you like Pike or Keyleth to come in and heal you?" Percy's voice is deep, thick, it warms her just to hear it. It's nice knowing he's here. She tries to move closer only to have the pain come back tenfold, she may have just torn something open, shit.

"Yes, healing, bring both of them actually," she hisses through her teeth. Too exhausted to even try healing herself.

Honestly admitting that she’d probably need both of them is hard. She can sense his reluctance to leave her and only when she concentrates on her breathing and evens it out does he ultimately leave to find them.

The door is left open when he leaves which allows Trinket to enter her room quietly, she hears his low huffs of concern from his spot beyond the foot of the bed.

"Thanks, buddy, you protected me from that six-eyed grey monster thing so good." Going back to concentrating on her breathing after she gets this out.

Voices from the hallway suddenly fill her ears, wonderful that didn't take long at all.

Suddenly she can feel four sets of eyes on her, three people and a bear, and that is uncomfortable.

She says, "Do either of you have heal today?" between quick breaths. Could one of her cracked ribs be pushing into her lung? She’s desperate for this pain to be over so she can actually go to sleep.

A hand slips into hers and for a second she thinks it's going to be Keyleth but she knows his hand by now, the ever present warmth there. He’s holding her hand on purpose it seems, as soothing little circles spin from his thumb into the palm of her hand slowly, distracting her mind from the pain in just the way she needs.

She can hear Keyleth move to the foot of the bed carefully, apologizing to Trinket about moving through his space, while Pike sits down on the edge of the bed.

Pike's the one to answer her, speaking softly, "We came prepared, Vex. We wouldn't let you down. Will Trinket need healing too?"

She just shakes her head no.

It's Pike's bright white healing that flows through her first, from the top of her head down. It's strange but she can always feel the weight of Sarenrae's presence when Pike is healing her.

Then a second later Keyleth’s power surges into her feet, its roots moving fast up her body. It's strength reaching up to her head, healing as it goes.

She can feel the reattaching of each of her cracked ribs, that solves her breathing problem. The lingering pain that was left over from her dislocated shoulder that she’d healed earlier is now gone. It’s enough healing that even the littlest things, her split lip, the pulsing bruises, and the line she’d bitten into her tongue during the battle, so hard it bled, heal completely.

It is only when the healing is finished that she opens her eyes for the first time since Vax left. She knew that Percy would be the first thing she would see but she wasn't anticipating the look in his eyes behind the reflection of his old glasses. It's a strange mixture of pride, distress, and genuine concern for her and how low she was. She knows now that even he, with no healing powers of his own, could tell how bad she was. She probably looks awful.

Pike starts her extremely adorable "rest is the best medicine speech" and she closes her eyes and just nods her head, not intending to tune out Pike's voice but it does happen as she drifts off just a little. She wakes up a little when the bed shifts, Pike getting off the bed.

Eyes still closed, she quickly says, “ Thank you," It's considerably easier to speak now than when she last spoke, she is pleased about that.

The only response she gets is from Keyleth, saying with a laugh from much farther away than she anticipated, “Go to sleep Vex." 

They must close the door behind them as they leave. She can hear their muffled conversation from beyond the door as they walk off and then it fades away. For a minute there's quiet, just the ever present slow spinning of Percy's thumb into her palm, which hasn't stopped since he started.

"Vex?" he waits for her grunt in response before continuing softly, “Do you want to sleep or do you want to have a bath first?”

Opening her eyes again, the spinning stops, and all she can do is look down at the bed as she considers her options, it makes her choice very easy. "Sleep, need sleep. Need to get out of this, uncomfortable," She gestures to everything she's wearing.

He helps her upright and then to a standing position as she starts to try and unbuckle one of the leather straps that keeps her left bracer on. Failing at it just one too many times she knows she's getting visibility frustrated. Vex'ahlia, defeated by exhaustion and her fucking bracer really?

In her peripheral vision, she can see Percy step a little closer as he gestures to her arm and says hesitantly, “Do you want me to…?”

Nodding but unable to make eye contact she sits down on the edge of the bed and offers him her left wrist.

Instead of starting on the buckle he holds her hand for a second and asks, "Would you want to talk about it?"

She shakes her head, "Nope. After I sleep."

He gets her out of her bracers and continues on at her request, unbuckling, unbuttoning, and unlacing with deft fingers. It’s honestly impressive how quickly he can get her out of her leathers even without her help. It’s as fast as she can do it by herself at least. He tends to fumble a little bit when he's overly motivated to get her undressed, it's delightful to watch. Right now though, he's methodically taking everything off her and putting it on the floor. She keeps her eyes shut saving every bit of energy she has and concentrating on staying upright and not moving back and forth too much.

Once she's down to just her small clothes and breast band she stops him there. He asks her to stand up so he can pull back the covers. She sits down at an angle on the desk chair while he does this, scratching Trinket behind the ears absentmindedly.

Percy comes to stand behind her and begins to brush out her hair, most of the bits of dried blood and dirt came out with his steady effort. She almost falls asleep during this, it is so relaxing, his fingers sliding through her hair while he re-braids it loosely, in just the same way she does it before bed.

He promises to be back and leaves her there for a couple of minutes, returning with a pitcher, filled halfway with warm water. He washes her face, neck, basically all of her skin that’s showing, of the dirt and blood with a warm wet cloth.

He takes his dark grey robe from where it was at the foot of the bed and wraps it loosely around her shoulders, drying her off in a way. It’s only mildly obvious that the robe is too big for her, the bottom hem touching her toes, but that doesn’t particularly matter to her much.

What does matter is how good the fabric feels against her skin, soft and velvety. It smells great, a mixture of Percy, the ever present scent of black powder, and the soap the castle uses when washing clothes. It has a nice weight too, heavy but not hot and calming in a surprising way.

"Is this the ceremonial Robe of The Grey Hunt?" she teases, slipping into her fake serious tone as she speaks.

Moving behind her, he rests his head on her shoulder, his stubble rubbing against her cheek, and says into her ear so sincerely, "It's yours if you want it."

Oh, she was not expecting that sort of offer, she just nods her head a little and mumbles something that sort of sounds like "Mine."

Guiding her back to bed, he tries to get her arms through the sleeves of the robe but she ends up having to help him a little.

She’s in practically the same spot and position she was in when he first walked in, mostly on her one side. He arranges the robe around her so it acts more like a blanket than anything else, not bothering to tie it shut.

He gets off the bed and for a couple of minutes she thinks that he is going to leave, he's making so little noise. She's so happy when the bed dips down, signaling his return.

Peeking out of one eye she is pleased to see that he intends to stay, he has taken his glasses off. Wearing only a pair of pants, thin from overuse, that he sometimes sleeps in. Pulling up some of the sheets and blankets with him, he mirrors her sleeping position, but he's much too far away for her liking. Using almost the last of the energy she has, she takes a hold of his shoulder and pulls, trying but failing to move him closer. He shifts over anyway so they're both now on the very edge of their pillows in the middle of the bed. His feet immediately situating themselves so hers can slip around them.

She shifts her pillow closer to him and tucks her head under his chin and relaxes and she can feel him do the same.

Tilting her head up, stubble tickling her nose, she murmurs into the skin of his neck, "I was kind of hoping you'd stay."

His hand finds hers and he says, “I love you,” into her hair.

She’s not sure how long they sleep for. 

He gets up when the sun is just past its highest, closing the curtains, so the light doesn’t shine onto the bed. She feels the weight of being covered by a thin blanket. A kiss on the forehead and a promise he makes to her that he'll be back later.

Trinket leaves with him. Percy encouraging him to follow with the mention of some nice food. Her bear, guided by his stomach.

She has some strange dreams. The two she remembers are about a bear cub massaging her back and another where Scanlan's singing at her bedside and a limerick he wrote about her first Grey Hunt.


	2. Chapter 2

After Sleep Part 1

She wakes quickly from her sleep when she, mid-dream, falls off her broom and as she’s about to hit the ground of the forest beneath her she’s suddenly very much awake. Eyes wide, but she’s silent, not screaming as she had been in her dream. Her heart stops pounding after a minute. Taking stock of herself she miraculously feels less like one large bruise than she thought she might. Two heal spells certainly minimize damage, don't they?

Pulling the covers down from over her head, adjusting to the low light while taking in her surroundings. It’s night, there’s no light peeking through the curtains and the sconces and candles have been lit but there is no fire in the fireplace. A large ceramic tray with a matching cover is at the foot of the bed. In the center of her search is Percy. His back to her, sitting at the desk working, and sadly completely dressed, all his layers back on, except for his coat. That needs to be changed. 

Making a fair bit of noise while getting upright in bed, she doesn't bother tying the robe together, just pulling it closed, while she stretches over toward the other side of the bed so she can get a better look at him. There's a slim stack of papers in front of him, he's trying to angle whatever it is that he's reading into the best light.

Attempting to be quiet she says, "Darling, you're going to get a headache if you continue to do that without your better glasses in the low light." He jumps a bit anyway.

"You're not wrong," he says then he's instantly up and out of the chair, what he was reading forgotten. Crossing to the bed he sits on the edge before he quietly asks, "How are you feeling?"

She straightens out and reaches out for his hand, which he takes. She starts pulling him in more toward her, noticing now that he's shaved since he left this afternoon. "I'm much better," she says truthfully.

Wrapping a warm arm behind her back once he's more properly situated on the bed. She can tell he's nervous. His voice is low as he speaks, "Vex, a group of us went to see the grey render, for a few different reasons. Everyone saw your face when you found out the grey render might have a had a child so Keyleth did three commune with nature spells while we were out there, one closer to the edge of the forest, one near the pond, and one out by the body and I can tell you that it didn't have a child in the area and the pond was empty too."

She can tell by the look on his face that he's being truthful and honestly, she never expected such good news. This is, this is such a wonderful weight to have off her shoulders, knowing she didn’t orphan a creature. She has to try not to start crying while saying, "Thank you, Percy."

Obviously relieved by her reaction he asks, "Did it throw a tree at you?”

Nodding her head she catches sight of the tray that's been at the foot of the bed the entire time.

“That's terrifying," he breathes out.

"Percy change of subject, what's that?" she asks pointing at the tray.

“Oh, that's for you actually," he says while pointing at the tray.

He takes a deep breath before continuing. "Keeper Yennen brought them, it's a Whitestone tradition. It should have come from both temples separately but he's trying his best." Getting off the bed, he slides the tray closer to her then walks over to the desk.

Picking up what few scrolls that are on the desk and opening them and holding each up to the nearest candle he continues, "He’s incredibly impressed with you at the moment actually, he's one of the people that went with us. I'm not explaining this well, one second."

She can only guess what he's looking for but he seems to find it. He rolls it up again, holding it closed with one hand. He picks up a candlestick that to this point hasn't been lit and lights it with one of the already burning candles near the desk. Returning to the bed he puts the rolled up scroll down on the bed near the middle and takes the lid off the tray and puts the lid on the table in the corner.

Underneath the lid is fruit, oranges, and blueberries to be specific. About an orange and a half has been cut up and shaped into something, the peel of the center two pieces have been cut strangely. Little triangles of peel above where meat of the orange ends. The rest of the second orange is in a separate bowl. The blueberries are not in any shape, they are all just in a larger bowl.

He lights the unlit wall sconce behind one side of the bed and blows out the candlestick and puts it on the nightstand. The smell of the blown out flame drifts up into her nose.

Carefully getting back on the bed so not to jostle her or the fruit, he does settle against the headboard after a bit of effort. "Vex, do you remember what I said about you needing to be properly consecrated and me being intimidating?"

She's still confused but she remembers. "Yes, is that what this is? I still don't understand, why is there fruit?" she asks.

He's very suddenly facing her, his hand finds one of hers and he continues, "This fruit is the last part of it. You have a choice because you've spent all day in bed recovering, I have the option of consecrating you now if you prefer or it will happen not tomorrow but the morning after that at dawn near the Sun Tree. It will be you, Cassandra, Keeper Yennen, and me. It's just some words, I'm mostly the one speaking, it won't take long but you have the choice."

It's easy to hear the strain in his voice, the nervousness, he wants to do this now when it's just them. She's more than fine with that, the idea of getting up before dawn at any point for the rest of this week is completely unappealing.

Making sure to give him a smile before she takes her hand out of his, she points to the orange and says, "It should happen now, that orange won't last forever like that. Why did someone take the time to cut it like that, with the peel in that shape?”

He'd been hiding how tense he was rather well but her words break it, and it's the first time she really sees him smile since she woke up. “Keeper Yennen did it,” he says pointing at the orange, "it's a tradition of sorts, Pelor's sun."

She gets up on her knees in bed so she can see it all from above. He's right that's what it is, the two center pieces and the ones all around those styled like in the de Rolo crest. "Oh, right I see it now. What are you doing?" she asks once he takes the blueberries and begins to place them on the tray next to the orange.

A wide smile appears on his face, she can only see half of it but it's lovely. "The blueberries are supposed to be shaped like the symbol of Erathis. This fruit part seemed much less silly when I was a child,” he ponders.

"Maybe all the adults knew how silly it was and just went with it because of tradition," she says as she runs her hand through the back of his hair. He leans into it like she expected him to, it causes him to stop working because he closes his eyes for a second.

Realizing what’s happening he turns to her and sees for the first time that because of her movement the robe has opened a bit. “That certainly sounds like a possibility,” he says, slowly turning pink.

That's enough, so she mouths, "sorry," to him as she takes her hand out of his hair and pulls the robe closed again, leaving him with a quick wink.

Snapping back into his previous task he manages what could be described as the symbol of Erathis in blueberries. He picks up the scroll and flattens it. "Alright, that's done. Just sit right there and Vex if you laugh after I start reading this I’ll laugh and then I'll have to start all over," he warns.

Nodding in understanding and then asking, "Seriousness got it. How will I know when to speak?"

His expression narrows, "You'll know when to speak and what to say if you pay attention," he says.

It takes him a bit to start, his posture, even while sitting on a bed, is perfect and he starts speaking in a powerful voice. 

"May Pelor's bright sun be ever in your sight, shine with your own light on those in most need of his kindness, mercy, and compassion.  
Erathis has found favor in you, show the people your own favor by in her spirit assisting, where you can, the advancement of the world.  
You are forever in the vision of the King and Queen of Light, pray they guide you to where you are most needed by the people."

"Lady Vex'ahlia, Whitestone has determined itself to be in need of your talents and skills. The title and position of Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt and a place in The Chamber are being imparted upon you. Do you accept them knowing that you are doing so in an effort to further the city of Whitestone to its highest glory?"

“I accept." she says when he pauses. He was right, she would know what to say.

"I, Lord Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III of the Royal House of Whitestone, do accept Lady Vex'ahlia, Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone, Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt, and Slayer of Dragons into the aforementioned positions now included in her name which she has previously accepted."

"What is your true name?" This he says a little more intensely, the change surprises her.

Attempting to match his powerful voice she says, “Lady Vex’ahlia, Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone, Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt, and Slayer of Dragons." 

A second passes and she thinks he'll speak again but he doesn't. He takes a large breath and exhales it slowly. His posture shifts to be a little less than perfect, leaning back onto the pillows, a smile on his face. He rolls up the scroll and puts it on the nightstand and says, “I‘m supposed to kiss your forehead and then you eat the fruit of the gods," he points at the tray. "You're allowed to share the fruit with whoever you want, just so you know."

She shifts closer and leans in toward him. "So you'd like to eat the center of the sun?" she guesses, it's the only piece unique enough to be worth desiring.

He meets her in the middle and kisses her forehead sweetly and says as he straightens, "I would like at least half."

Eyeing him a little she says, “Not a problem dear, you know I prefer oranges in liquid form with grapes.” She takes a few blueberries and pops them in her mouth.

Passing him half of the middle orange, his hand meets hers and he instantly puts it in his mouth, half of the peel in his mouth and the other half out so it looks like he has one row of very pointy orange teeth. But his mouth is too big for it so his back teeth still show.

She just knows that this is something left over from his childhood, something that after everything couldn’t be ruined and she can only resort to giggling behind her hand because her mouth is inconveniently filled with half chewed blueberries.

She's eaten about a quarter of the symbol of Erathis by the time he's done with that piece, eating the edible part and putting the peel back on the tray. She watches as he takes another piece from the edge, one of the rays, and holds it out close to her mouth.

"You do traditionally have to eat a part of each though," he says. She opens her mouth and lets him feed it to her, she can tell by his reaction that he's surprised, his eyes going wide and he turns a little pink again.

When he's done eating a few blueberries she asks, "Were you always going to be the one to read that since you were the one to title me?"

"Yes, I was, and I will admit that at the time I was looking forward to having the excuse to kiss you back," he says quietly.

Oh after everything he's still going to blush while telling her that.

She repositions so she can reach up to kiss his cheek in just the same way she used to back then, before she says, ”You’re very nice Percy. I know you don't believe it all the time but you are."

She pulls the tray closer and they continue eating, he does end up eating the other middle piece of the orange sun but with more dignity than his first performance.

Once she can’t eat another blueberry her mind wanders and she asks, "Does the stuff you said about the gods mean anything?"

Knowing his views on the gods she's not expecting him to think so hard about his next words. It’s a good minute before he starts to speak, "I think it means what you want it to mean. That scroll is just something we say, a tradition to those being titled. The gods choose their own usually but I know that Pelor sent you that vision,” he stops for a second before continuing, "Vex, do you feel chosen?"

She doesn't feel any different but who knows really. Unable to answer she just shrugs and goes back to thinking, letting the subject drop.


	3. Chapter 3

After Sleep Part 2

When they both have eaten enough and neither has reached for anything on the tray for over five minutes Percy shifts and moves as if he's going to pick up the tray and take it off the bed. 

Before he can Vex asks, "Where's Trinket? He loves blueberries."

Percy leaves the tray where it is and gets off the bed, stooping down at the foot of the bed.

"Trinket, wake up," he says scratching what must be Trinket's muzzle, he's bent over so much.

Vex can see Percy smiling down at her bear and then there's a tiny little huff noise.

Her heart practically explodes when Percy helps a Trinket colored bear cub climb on him. 

Barely awake, she watches as Trinket yawns and turns his head and sees her. He instantly seems more awake and tries to get out of Percy's grasp. Percy puts him down on the bed and Trinket makes his way over to her lap which is still covered in blankets. His legs hang off the sides of her legs. He puts his head down and just stares at her with little sleepy Trinket eyes.

Unable to speak, just looking at baby Trinket, Percy takes the tray off of the bed and puts it on the table but leaves the half filled bowl of blueberries next to her. She's still speechless as he rejoins them on the bed

Leaning in a little towards Percy, but unable to take her eyes off Trinket, she asks, "How?"

She can hear the smile on his face as he answers a little confused, "You don't remember a bear cub giving you a massage?"

Nodding her head slowly and turning toward Percy a bit she says, "I thought that was a dream. Wait, how, how did this happen?"

He reaches for Trinket's paw where it's sitting over the curve of her hip and gently rubs the fur on the top of Trinket's paw and explains, "It was Keyleth mostly. She wanted to know more about the hunt and she talked to Trinket about it. It was Trinket that wanted to give you a massage and I didn't want him crushing you on the bed. Keyleth was the one to suggest this, she was already planning on casting animal shapes on the group so we could fly to see the grey render. Making Trinket a bear cub was very easy apparently."

Casting speak with animals, she pets the top of Trinket's head and says, "Hey Buddy. You are so adorable. You're smaller than you were when I first met you. Do you like this? Is it comfortable?"

"I'm a little tired, Vex. I'm fine, I'm extra cuddly this way," he says lifting his head and yawning. His head settling down on her stomach.

Percy can't help but smile as he says, "When I got back in he was asleep on your back. It took me a while to convince him that he had to get off of you to eat his dinner."

"I got tired halfway through your massage, I'm sorry Vex," Trinket says as he closes his eyes like he's getting ready to sleep on her lap.

Running her hand over the back of Trinkets head, "Oh dear, it's not your fault, you're so small compared to how you normally are." 

"Do you know when it will wear off?" She means to ask Percy this but it comes out of her mouth in bear by accident.

"No," is all that Trinket says. His eyes still closed.

"Do you know when it will wear off?" She asks it again but in common this time.

Still petting Trinket’s paw, Percy answers, "Keyleth is going to let go of the concentration when she goes to bed, so a couple of hours at most. Which means that this is problematic. He's really not going to shift for the rest of the night is he?" Pointing at Trinket's relaxed position.

"I will move if she asks me to," Trinket says, he's more awake than he wants her to think he is.

She stops petting Trinket and laughs, "Maybe in a little bit but first would you like some of these blueberries?" She points at the bowl at her elbow.

Opening one eye, suddenly very much awake, Trinket licks his lips and looks over at the bowl. "Blueberries? Yes," he says as he gets off of her lap.

Picking up the bowl and bending so she can put it down beyond her feet. Not bothering to close the partially open robe once her back hits the pillows again. Trinket's about to start in on the bowl while she tells him, "The only reason I'm allowing you to eat this on the bed is because you're so small right now." He ignores her and begins to eat.

Both she and Percy just watch him as he eats the blueberries, which doesn't take very long at all. 

Percy shifts a little closer so their shoulders touch, he says to her, “You know when Keyleth brought in the fruit a couple of hours ago she called the three of us domestic. I'm beginning to see her point."

Domestic, two people and a bear who love one another. She certainly could see that.

"What were you doing when she said that?" She means to ask this in common but it comes out in bear instead. She had turned her head a little toward Percy before she spoke and she can feel the blush rise on her face because of her mistake.

Trinket stops licking his lips for a second to answer her, "I was partially asleep on his lap."

This is when her entire attention focuses back on Trinket, she has to know more about this. Asking him in bear, "Were you really?" 

In between licking the bowl where he must have squished a blueberry Trinket says, "After I ate my dinner he covered his lap with his coat and then wrapped me up in the rest. I was so warm. He only took me off when I got too squirmy, I had wanted down anyway." 

Oh, well, that's certainly the most adorable thing Trinket's ever described to her.

Turning her attention back to Percy she looks at him and he's still looking at her confused. "I love you," she says, a little more heavily than she intended.

He smiles and asks, "Were you saying that to Trinket or me?"

She's about to explain the last 20 seconds to him before Trinket interrupts her thoughts, "She was talking to you. It's because you did something nice for me when you didn't have to, but you did it anyway, right, Vex?" He's now laying down with his head across her blanket covered ankles but looking directly at Percy.

"Yes Trinket, exactly," she says in common. She's shocked by his rather insightful and concise explanation of it.

"He was talking to me, right? What did he say?” Percy's face shows all of his confusion, his eyebrows have gone bushy, the lines in between them prominent.

Bringing her right hand up she runs two fingers over his eyebrows, trying to get them to relax while saying, "Trinket was trying to explain to you why I love the man who wrapped up my bear in his coat and let him sleep on his lap."

Decreasing the tension in his forehead is easy but it completely disappears when he starts to grin. "That's what you were talking about?" 

Taking her fingers off his face she nods and shifts away from him a little. She closes her eyes for a minute while Percy processes. 

When he moves it is to lift his arm, allowing her to relax into his side, she moves carefully so she won’t jostle Trinket. His waistcoat is soft against her face. Swinging an arm around his middle, she slides her hand down his arm so she ends up holding his hand. Percy just continues the conversation, his voice calm. "When Keyleth was here she took your armor, she and Vax are going to clean it for you." 

Just nodding her head at that, she lets her thoughts drift. This is nice, it’s what she needs, this comfortable bubble in her room. Turning her head so she can look at him. When he notices he looks down at her and smiles. It's a wonderful feeling, knowing that she makes him happy. That he smiles like that because of her.

“Percy, tell me more about what all of you did in the Parchwood,” she asks quietly. She just wants to hear him speak for a while, to let his voice surround her.

His expression settles a little and he starts to speak, “Keyleth turned half of us into giant eagles and the rest flew there on our backs. The battle site was easy to find because of the damage to the canopy and the smoke coming from the body. I did not vomit while flying this time but I think you can guess who did." 

Of course, Tary lost his lunch. "He's consistent at least," she says with a laugh.

She watches as he gathers his words. "One of the reasons we went was because Keyleth wanted to know if she would be able to become a Grey Render. She hasn’t tried it yet but she thinks she was able to see enough of it through the burned body so she’ll be able to transform into it. She also tried to harvest a set of glands it had. I don’t remember what they’re for but she punctured one trying to get it out but she was able to get the other one. She did a commune with nature spell at each stop and then once at the edge of the forest.”

Laughing a bit to himself before saying, “Tary, your brother, and I were turned into large frogs when we got to the pond because I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a portal to somewhere else. It isn’t thankfully but we were very slimy when we got out of the pond. My sister actually laughed at us until she realized that she would have to ride on my back all the way back to the castle. Luckily when Keyleth turned us into eagles again the slime disappeared. Before we flew back Pike cleansed the pond just to be safe.” 

He goes quiet for a moment. She can’t help but say, “It should be checked again when the moon hits the pond, that’s when it came out, and on the same night during the next moon cycle.”

Letting out a large exhale he says, “You really are the Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt." There is a tone of obvious satisfaction in his voice as he says it. 

“It’s my forest now, I want it safe.” It's strange to say it but it feels good to admit it, especially to Percy.

“I didn't expect it would be something so dangerous." He gently squeezes her hand once while speaking, a silent apology.

She just shrugs against him, ignoring his apology, it wasn't his fault, she rushed into it. "I should have prepared more beforehand," she admits. 

Bringing their joined hands up to his chest, he shakes his head before he says, “No, but you did this by yourself, you should be proud of that. You did this without a Heroes Feast, inspiration, or any enhanced abilities, just you, that’s impressive dear.” He stops for a second before continuing, softly saying, "I'm very proud of you." 

This is the constant support from him that she's still getting used to. It makes her blush nearly every time, mostly because she knows that he means everything he's saying with every part of himself. He's not wrong either, it is impressive that she did this by herself. She can take pride in that, she will.

She loves the look on his face that follows. His expression a mixture of shock and relief, all because he can say these things to her now, doesn’t have to keep them in, doesn’t have to hide them. 

It makes her wonder what he's kept to himself, what he's almost said, and when he had given her words of support in the past what he didn't say but wishes he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my head this is what Trinket looks like.  
> http://c7.alamy.com/comp/DHC1PM/european-brown-bear-eurasian-brown-bear-ursus-arctos-arctos-cub-sitting-DHC1PM.jpg  
> http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/6b9c98bf7ba14dd38e84f9d70922e626/european-brown-bear-eurasian-brown-bear-ursus-arctos-arctos-cub-sitting-dhc1xk.jpg


	4. Chapter 4

After Sleep Part 3

Trinket yawns, his loud breath breaking the silence and their attention turns to his pointy baby bear teeth. He settles down again, his shoulders slacken and his head stops moving.

Looking at Percy again she asks, "Keyleth didn't take my waterskin when she took my armor, did she?"

He strains his head over the edge of the bed to look for it, after a second he says, “No, do you want it?"

“Yes please,” she says with a grin. Then he’s untangling himself from around her and walking over to a spot by the desk and picking it up off the floor. Trinket opens one eye as the bed moves.

Passing it to her when he reaches the bed again he takes the now empty blueberry bowl off the bed and puts it down near the tray on the table.

She takes a long drink of water while she watches him unbutton his waistcoat and take it off while walking back. It's a delightful view. She's disappointed that he stops at just the one layer.

Percy is handed the waterskin once he gets back on the bed, his back to the pillows.

Trinket lifts his head at the shifting of the bed again and moves his head entirely away from her feet, putting his head down on a folded blanket at the end of the bed. She uses the opportunity to stretch a little. The robe opens more with her movement, exposing, even more, skin. Honestly she’d like to take it off completely but she’s mostly sitting on it and moving that much right now is, well she's confident it'll be taken off eventually, especially because she catches Percy watching her while he drinks. She winks at him and his face turns a lovely shade of pink, but he doesn’t look away.

When he's finished drinking he puts the waterskin down on the nightstand and asks, "I feel like I should know this already but what is your favorite fruit?"

"Plums," she says without a thought, no hesitation in her answer.

Eye widening, surprised by her swift reply, he asks, "Is there a story there?"

Gods, bless him for actually wanting to know more but giving her the option not to share if she wanted. He understands better than most that somethings stir up memories and events that are either intentionally not thought about or long forgotten by time and best left there.

This, however, is just something she hasn't consciously thought about in well over a decade. Sharing this will not hurt her in the least. It might encourage him to share a story of his own.

Picking at the covers a little before starting, "It's really not a very interesting story. There was a very old widow in Byroden, who may have been very distantly related to my mother, and she had a couple of large plum trees in her garden. For around two weeks every summer once they were ripe, she would give them away to all the children in the village. Vax never preferred the plums like I did and he'd give me his. The stomach aches afterward were so worth it. Those plums were always perfect."

If she tries hard enough she can still taste the last one she had as a child. The skin of it, smooth against her mouth before the first bite. The anticipation of the juice inside. The fruit itself warm from the sun, perfectly sweet.

She can remember that but despite all those details the old woman's name is gone, her face is mostly a blur, she can see kind eyes and a soft hand giving her the fruit.

Jogged out of her memories when he starts to put a bit of hair behind her ear, she asks,"What's your favorite fruit?"

He reddens at the question, and says hesitantly, "Raspberries, well it used to be raspberries. It still is, I think."

He can see the question on her face so she doesn't even get to ask.

Gesturing to the table where the tray is he says, "That was a game, an old sibling tradition. One, we grew out of when I was nine."

Now she's confused if he was nine that would mean that Cassandra was very young at the time, "Did Cassandra take part in this game?"

Understanding her question, he starts to speak, “Cassandra wasn’t," but stops and makes it clearer, "This was something Julius, Vesper, and I started doing well before Cassandra was even born. There's only so many times you can bring children under seven out to a ceremony at dawn without them making a game of it. We would take turns asking for pieces of the orange so politely that the person being titled would have to give them to us. The center was one piece then and the one we really wanted to get. After a while, the center started to show up cut into three so we stopped doing it."

The memory continues after he stops talking, just like hers had. She's careful to watch his face, looking for any sign of distress. There is none but, she runs a hand through his hair once after a minute anyway, before he can go too deep.

He turns to her a look of thanks in his eyes and asks, "Lady Vex'ahlia, have you had any thoughts about what you'd like on your crest?"

She's surprised by the sudden change of topic, but she sees the reason for it. His eyes were previously focused across the room where above the desk, hanging on the wall, is a small black and white sketch he did of the de Rolo crest.

Excited to share the thoughts she's had, she says, "Pelor's sun possibly? He is the reason my title exists in the first place. I had been thinking about some trees because of the Parchwood, but with the sun that might make it look too similar to the de Rolo crest," she admits.

"Well, there's no need to rush, you should be happy with it. You're independently titled so you're going to have this crest for the rest of your life. It should be exactly how you want it, with enough time I'm sure we could figure out a way for it to look unique," he says, trying to encourage her.

"The sooner we're done designing it, though, the sooner I can get started on your wax seal and signet ring. They're both traditionally based off of your crest," he says calmly like he didn't just imply that he's going to make the ring for her.

Unable to let this one go she asks, "Are you going to make the ring yourself?"

He nods before taking her right hand and saying, "Yes well, I need to find the tools I'm missing from my jeweler's kit first, but I have ideas. If you'll allow me, I'd like to try."

Still holding her hand he pushes the sleeve of the robe up and angles her hand so he can really look at her little finger. "I'd make sure it would be wearable while you're shooting, not too heavy or thick. Platinum obviously," he says with a grin, "oval, with rounded edges, a small sapphire set into each side. It just needs the center," he says looking up at her, running his pointer finger over where the ring would be. He can obviously imagine it there, this perfect ring, he has it designed it in his head, or knowing him it's sketched on paper already somewhere.

It’s amazing, she can tell from the calm look on his face that he doesn’t even know he’s doing it but it would be easy to mistake what he’s describing for something else, another type of ring. That realization makes her blush.

Trinket moves suddenly, taking his head off the blanket. It's enough to break them out of the moment, Percy lets go of her hand and they both watch as Trinket rolls over onto his back.

The grin on Percy's face is audible when he says, "Trinket should be on your crest don't you think? How many Baronesses have a bear as a companion?"

Her head had turned toward him as he spoke, just in time for her to see his face scrunch up at what he just said.

“If they do they're probably trying to avoid that pun,” she says, a hand coming up to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing too much.

Laughing to himself, after a moment he asks, "Am I assuming correctly that you're not going to do that?"

“Trinket needs to be on everything, he’s so cute,” she says motioning toward the bear that's just rolled over again onto his feet. They watch as he moves to the side of the bed and climbs down by gripping onto the bedpost.

Sharing a look with Percy, she gets out from under the covers and shifting toward the end of the bed she casts speak with animals again. Looking over the low footboard, she can see Trinket settling down on top of his nest of blankets.

"Are you alright Trinket?" She asks with a concerned voice.

“You two are laughing and it’s shaking the bed a lot, so I’m going back to sleep down here, goodnight,” he says with a big bear smile, looking up at her.

“You’re going to wake up being my favorite big bear again, just so you know,” she says in bear as his eyes close.

“Big and strong?” He asks without opening his eyes.

Taking the folded blanket that he'd had his head on before, she opens it up and tosses it over him. She does her best to cover him with it, keeping in mind where his body may be once he's back to normal. She ends up covering everything but his head. Once she's done, she says in bear, “The biggest and strongest buddy, goodnight. I’m sorry about the shaking.”

Looking at the lump of him under the blanket one last time in this form, she decides that Keyleth needs to turn him into a cub again when she’s awake to really experience it, not tomorrow but soon.

Turning her head around towards Percy she can see the concern in his eyes, before he asks, "He alright?”

Nodding her head, she answers, “He’s fine, just a very tired bear cub going to bed." Thinking for a second she asks, "Keyleth didn’t transform him with his armor still on did she?” She hopes someone remembered that.

“Vax and I took it off him, it’s probably still in the corner of the dining room.” He says it like it's nothing. Like his actions don't mean anything to her, but they do, they mean so much.

Shifting toward him, it's only when they're facing each other and she's sitting next to him, her legs to one side, does she take the robe off completely. She moves before he can, getting in so close to his face their noses brush against each other.

She whispers, "Thank you," into his lips. Leaving just the breath of her lips against his as she tries to retreat but he's ready. Bringing her in again, hands on her shoulders, she takes hold of his jaw before she kisses him.

Taking control she shifts them so his head is back against the pillows so she knows he won't suddenly hit the headboard and hurt himself. She gets closer deepening the kiss. He tastes like oranges.

His hand works at her breast band blindly and doesn't make much progress. Changing his course midway he brings that hand down her back, skating his fingertips along her skin. He moves his other hand up to caress her breasts through the fabric. It’s nice but it’s just not enough and she’s getting frustrated.

If she hadn’t already been planning to pin him to the bed within the next ten minutes she certainly would be thinking about it now. He needs to have a lot less clothing on first though. That's a lovely thought.

Reaching for his shirt, she finds that trying to work the buttons open with only one hand is too much right now. She needs to see what she's doing so she backs away and Percy follows with her, trying to continue the kiss.

Keeping him back with the hold she has on his jaw she moves his head back to the pillows and then slowly lets go of him saying, "Give me one second."

Distracting her before she can actually start, he says, with a glazed over look in his eyes, “On your crest, Trinket could be inside the center of the sun if the sun was big enough." That's a pretty good idea but she's done with talking about her crest for now. Looking up and raising an eyebrow at him he seems to understand her meaning.

She's opening the third button from the top when he starts to place hot open mouth kisses down the side of her neck. Each time he moves his lips he exhales heavily, tickling hairs there.

"You're really not making this easy for me," she giggles but tilts her head so he can have more room. He takes the invitation for what is it is and redoubles his efforts, moving back up her neck, gliding a finger along the edge and tip of her ear. Moaning into her neck when she takes hold of him through his trousers for a few moments. She's pleased to find that he's already about halfway to where she needs him to be.

Continuing to work on his shirt, she quickly finishes with the buttons of the shirt and moves to give him room as he works his way out of it and tosses it over the side of the bed as she admires how his chest and face are flushed.

Once his attention is back on her she begins unwrapping her breast band, he tries to help but she swats his hand away, it will go much faster if she does it by herself, there can actually be too many hands sometimes. Glancing up every so often she can almost pinpoint the moment he gets lost in his head. It doesn’t bother her, it just means that she’ll kiss him till he comes back to himself, to her.

He breaks himself out of it shortly after anyway, when she's about three-quarters of the way done with what she's doing, his eyes bright.

Stopping her steady unwrapping by taking her right hand he smiles at her and whispers excitedly, "Vex, a mountain range," and then he lets go of her hand. He's so happy but she doesn't have any idea about what he's talking about.

It must be easy to read her confusion because he explains further, “Your crest, a sun rising over a mountain range.”

Everything clicks in her head and it only takes her a second to decide that she's not going to base her crest on something a card reader showed in her Ank'harel. She's about to explain that to him when she remembers the card reader's words, "Unity and a New Dawn," she liked that at the time, it had sounded hopeful, it had been what she needed to hear.

It would work with Pelor and as far as she's concerned it came true. It wouldn't be a bad thing to be reminded every day that her choice in the Feywild had its part in getting all of them to this moment alive.

Moving even closer she kisses Percy's cheek and whispers in his ear, "Percy, please keep your attention on me when I am practically naked." To make her point, she loosens her breast band, even more, allowing what's left around her to slide down to her waist. She loves it when he looks at her and she can tell that she's the only thing in his mind, knowing that sometimes she's the singular focus in his thoughts is an overwhelmingly nice feeling.

Before he can move or make any sort of apologies and she’s sure he’s about to do both, as she’s taking off the fabric that’s around her waist she quickly says, "You're not wrong Percy, it's a good idea," shaking her head with a smirk and looking at him, "No mountains but what does, "A New Dawn" look like in Celestial?"

It takes a moment for his mind to catch up and realize what she's saying but when he understands there is a soft kiss on her forehead, and he murmurs, "I'll write it out for you later," into her skin.

The whole of his expression relaxes as he leans away. There's an earnestness in his voice, a softness in his eyes as he says, "I love you."

He hasn't actually said those words till recently but she's so familiar with the look on his face and sound of his voice as he says it. What really astonishes her is that she's seen and heard it practically every day for months. That in his way he’s said it so often, silently behind words, in pauses, or he’s said it with other words but they all have meant I love you. No matter what he's saying, the way he says it is always the same and she never noticed or realized. She suspects she wasn't supposed to.

"Where were you?" He teases, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I was thinking about the gods actually," she says with a smirk, obviously lying through her teeth.

"Really?" he asks, missing the joke because he's moving his hand down to her side looking at the dried blood there. It had been hidden by the breast band and the wound has been healed for hours but it had distracted him.

Making a decision she rises to straddle him. She doesn’t settle down on his lap yet, but she does run both her hands through his hair. Bending down she captures whatever he is about to say with her mouth. His hands can't seem to settle anywhere, moving along her back, hips, and legs, one momentarily slips under her small clothes but it comes out just as fast.

Breaking the kiss before it goes too far she still has her eyes closed while he says, "Hello," low, in the voice he knows could sway her. She opens her eyes to find that his are still closed, the reflection off his glasses are of her own eyes.

Leaning over more, she says, "Hi," softly into his ear. Taking one hand out of his hair to hold onto the headboard, she then lowers herself down so she can feel him against her. She sets a tantalizingly slow pace, slower than even he usually likes, it’s not enough to feel more than a little helpful for her, not distracting her away from her ideas at all. He opens his eyes once she starts and brings his hands to her hips trying to urge her to go faster.

She doesn't speak until he's about to start to move to match her rhythm, she can tell by the way his legs start to shift underneath her. His eyes are half closed but when she speaks they open again and his movement stops but she continues. “So now that I have your attention I was saying, I was just consecrated with Erathis and Pelor’s blessings, right? So they’re probably still watching,” she explains in the same voice she used before, so he'll know she's lying.

The only response he makes is her name. "Vex," said in a breathy gasp.

Continuing in the same voice she says, "I was thinking that maybe we should wait for an hour? Pelor and Erathis might be focused somewhere else by then,” and she stops and lifts herself off him, hovering over where he wants her most.

He’s still able to think before he reacts which for some reason she finds insanely annoying. Breathing heavily he uses the fact that she's above him to his advantage, pulling her closer with a hand on her back, he cups one of her breasts and holds it while he leans in to kiss it. Starting just above her nipple, shifting after a few too short moments and continuing up toward her throat. She can't help but arch toward his touch, moving her hand to the side of his face, all of the attention is wonderful but it's not enough and he knows it.

It's not until he groans and says, "Fuck the gods Vex," into her shoulder that she gets down onto his lap again, running a hand down the back of his neck to his shoulder.

Giggling, she says teasingly, "I don't know dear, that seems like it would be a lot less fun." He laughs at that and pulls her closer for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos appreciated.


End file.
